For most of the year Pushkar is a small pilgrimage town of 25,000 people around a sacred lake. For ten days in autumn it becomes a fairground of camels, horses, traders and pilgrims, and the whole character of the place changes.
Pushkar sits in a hollow behind the Nag Pahar ridge, 14 kilometres from Ajmer and about 510 metres above sea level. Hindu tradition holds that the lake formed where a lotus fell from Brahma's hand, which makes it one of the five sacred sarovars and a required stop on several pilgrim circuits. Fifty-two ghats step down to the water, each endowed by a different princely house or merchant family.
The Brahma temple here is the reason foreign visitors have heard of the town. Temples to Brahma are extremely rare anywhere in India, and this fourteenth-century rebuild on a much older site is the best known of the handful that exist. The town enforces its sanctity in practical ways: meat, eggs and alcohol are all prohibited within the municipal limits, and shoes come off well before the ghats.
The camel fair grew out of the Kartik Purnima pilgrimage, when traders realised that everyone was coming anyway. It now runs for about ten days to the full moon in October or November, with livestock trading in the first half and competitions, pilgrim bathing and crowds in the second. Travellers from Europe and North America should book accommodation months out, since the town has very few rooms.
You travel as our guest, not as a booking number. One named person looks after you from the first video call to the drive back to the airport, and explains the meaning behind everything you are looking at.
In Pushkar that matters most where the crowds are thickest and the customs least familiar.
Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Islamic dates follow lunar calendars, so each year shifts. We confirm every date against the panchang before a departure goes on sale.
| Festival | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Pushkar Camel Fair | Oct-Nov (to Kartik Purnima, lunar) | Up to 20,000 camels, horses and cattle traded on the sand flats, with moustache and turban contests, matka phod, camel decoration and a tented stadium programme. |
| Kartik Purnima bathing | Oct-Nov (full moon, lunar) | The religious climax of the fair. Pilgrims bathe at all 52 ghats from before dawn, and the lake rim fills with lamps after dark. Photography is restricted at the water. |
| Holi | Mar (Phalguna Purnima, lunar) | Pushkar's Holi is well known among backpackers, centred on the main bazaar with dry colour and drums. No alcohol, which keeps it friendlier than most. |
| Navratri | Sep-Oct or Mar-Apr (lunar) | Nine nights of fasting and evening temple singing at the Brahma and Savitri shrines, with the hill temple lit after dark and a steady climb of pilgrims. |
| Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, Ajmer | Rajab, Islamic lunar calendar | Fourteen kilometres away, one of South Asia's largest Sufi gatherings at the Ajmer Sharif dargah, with qawwali through the night for six days. |
| Teej | Jul-Aug (Shravan, lunar) | Swings, green clothes and a small procession around the lake, marking the first monsoon rain. Quiet compared with the city versions. |
Ranked the way a local host would feed you, starting with the dish you should not leave without.
Pushkar Lake is a place of worship rather than recreation, so there is no swimming, boating or bathing in swimwear, and the water is at its highest from September to December. Expect to be asked to remove shoes and leather at the ghats, and be wary of self-appointed priests who press a puja and then demand a set fee.
Properties we would put our own guests in. Your package includes the level you choose, and we hold rooms before festival dates.
| Place | What it is |
|---|---|
| Fairground stadium programme | During the fair only: camel polo, matka phod, turban tying and a nightly cultural show in the tented arena. The one real spectacle of the year. |
| Rooftop cafes, Sadar Bazaar | A string of terraces over the lake serving mint tea and music until late. No alcohol anywhere in town, and nobody pretends otherwise. |
| Evening aarti at Varah and Brahma Ghats | Lamps, bells and singing at sunset on the water steps. Free, unticketed and the thing to do on an ordinary evening. |
| Qawwali at Ajmer Sharif | Fourteen kilometres away, Sufi devotional singing at the dargah every evening and through the night during the Urs. |
| Folk music at the desert camps | Kalbeliya dance and Manganiyar music staged at the tented camps outside town during the fair season. |
| Temple bhajan sittings | Informal evening devotional singing at the Rangji and Savitri temples, which visitors may sit at the back of. |
| Airport or route | Detail |
|---|---|
| Jaipur International (JAI) | The practical gateway, 145 km and about three hours by road. Gulf carriers connect here from the USA, UK and Europe via Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi. |
| Kishangarh (KQH) | The nearest strip, 40 km away, with limited domestic services. Useful only if a Delhi or Mumbai flight happens to suit your dates. |
| Via Delhi (DEL) | Non-stop from New York, Chicago, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, then either a 400 km drive or the Ajmer Shatabdi train. |
| Transfers from Jaipur | A pre-booked car takes three hours on good highway, with a stop at the Ajmer dargah or Kishangarh marble market on the way. |
| Fair week logistics | Roads into Pushkar close to private cars during Kartik Purnima. Expect a drop-off outside the town and a short walk or shuttle in. |
| Route or station | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ajmer Junction (AII) | The railhead 14 km away, 30 minutes by taxi. Pushkar's own narrow terminus handles almost no passenger traffic. |
| Delhi to Ajmer, Shatabdi Express | Roughly six and a half hours from New Delhi, chair car with meals. The most comfortable approach from the capital. |
| Jaipur to Ajmer | Two to two and a half hours on frequent services, including the Shatabdi and several intercity trains. |
| Ajmer to Udaipur | About five hours south by day train, which makes Pushkar an easy stop between Jaipur and the lakes. |
| Fair season booking | Ajmer trains fill weeks ahead for Kartik Purnima. Reserve as early as the quota opens, or travel by road from Jaipur instead. |
Come in October or November for the camel fair, or December to February for 15-25°C / 59-77°F and a quiet town. Avoid May and June at 41°C / 106°F, and note that fair-week room rates are the highest in Rajasthan.
| Months | Season | Day temperature | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct-Nov | Post-monsoon | 20-32°C / 68-90°F | Warm days, cool nights and the camel fair. The busiest and best weeks of the year, with rooms at four or five times normal rates. |
| Dec-Feb | Winter | 15-25°C / 59-77°F | Clear and comfortable, with mornings at 5-9°C / 41-48°F. Pleasant for the Savitri hill climb and the ghat circuit. |
| Mar-Jun | Summer | 30-41°C / 86-106°F | Dry heat building through May and June. The lake level drops, the sand flats shimmer and the town empties of foreign visitors. |
| Jul-Sep | Monsoon | 26-34°C / 79-93°F | Around 500 mm of rain. The Nag Pahar ridge greens over, the lake refills and the ghats are at their most atmospheric under cloud. |
Per person, twin sharing, excluding international flights. Hotels, private transport, guides, entries, your trip manager and 24-hour support are included.
You walk the trading lines at dawn with a camel dealer, watch the Kartik Purnima bathing from a respectful distance, and sleep in a tented camp at the fairground edge.
From US$2,625 per person
A pandit family guides you through a lake-side rite, explains what a non-Hindu may and may not join, and walks the full 52-ghat circuit with you barefoot.
From US$1,188 per person
Two quiet days on the lake, then the Chishti dargah at Ajmer for evening qawwali, the 1199 Adhai Din ka Jhonpra and the hill fort above the city.
From US$1,500 per person
Daily morning asana on a ghat-facing roof, a satvik cooking class without onion or garlic, and afternoons free in a town that serves no meat or alcohol.
From US$1,562 per person
Add any of these to a tour. A host stays beside you and tells you what is happening and why it is done that way.
At first light during the fair a Raika herder takes you through the camel enclosures, showing how teeth are checked, how a price is settled by hand signals under a cloth, and what a decorated nose peg is worth. You drink tea with his family between the animals.
A pandit family from Brahma Ghat leads a short rite with marigolds, a coconut and the red Pushkar thread tied at the wrist. They tell you the agreed donation in advance, which is exactly what the freelance priests on the steps will not do.
You start the 650 steps in the dark with a local guide and reach the hill temple as the light hits the lake and the fairground sand. On the way down you stop where the pilgrim track crosses the Nag Pahar ridge path to Ajmer.
A Brahmin household near Rangji Temple shows you how to build flavour with asafoetida, ginger and fennel when onion and garlic are forbidden. You make gatte, a dry vegetable and churma, then eat it with the family on the floor.
For two very different reasons. Eleven months of the year it is a quiet lake town with 52 ghats and one of India's only Brahma temples, strictly vegetarian and alcohol-free. Then for ten days in autumn up to 20,000 camels, horses and cattle arrive for a trading fair that has no real equivalent anywhere in Asia.
October or November if you want the camel fair, which runs to the Kartik full moon, or December to February for 15-25°C / 59-77°F and an empty town. Mornings in midwinter drop to 5-9°C / 41-48°F. May and June reach 41°C / 106°F and the lake shrinks noticeably.
It is one of the gentler stops in India, with no alcohol in town and a long history of foreign visitors. The genuine nuisance is commercial: priests who begin an unasked-for ritual then name a large fee, and shops quoting fair-week prices. Agree costs first. During the fair, crowds are dense so keep valuables close.
An India e-Visa applied for online at least four days before you fly, in the 30-day, one-year or five-year tourist categories. You will need a passport scan, a photograph and a card payment, and you should carry the printed approval. No separate permit applies to Pushkar, Ajmer or the fairground.
Our ground cost is US$950 for three nights on the ghats, US$1,200 for the four-night Pushkar and Ajmer pairing, US$1,250 for the yoga and satvik week and US$2,100 for six nights at the camel fair. Fair pricing is higher because tented camps and the few hotel rooms multiply their rates.
Two nights is plenty outside the fair: one for the Brahma temple and the ghat circuit, one for Savitri hill and the bazaar. During the fair give it three or four, because the trading and the competitions happen on different days and the crowds slow everything down considerably.
No. Meat, eggs and alcohol are all prohibited inside the municipal limits, and this is enforced rather than nominal. The cafes do excellent vegetarian food, including a long-standing Israeli and European menu from the old overland route. If you want a drink or a steak, Ajmer is 14 kilometres away.
Remove shoes and leather belts or bags before the ghat steps, dress to cover shoulders and knees, and do not photograph people bathing, especially at Kartik Purnima. The Brahma temple bars cameras inside the sanctum. If someone ties a thread on your wrist, they will ask for money, so decline politely if you do not want the rite.
Most guests pair Pushkar with one or two of these on the same trip.